'Guardians of the Galaxy' Highlights Groot and Rocket in the Latest Poster

The biggest question mark about James Gunn‘s Guardians of the Galaxy is: can the film make a talking raccoon and sentient tree work? It helps they’re played by Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel, and they’re the sort of characters that — if they work — could become everyone’s favorite character, but that’s a big if. The latest poster lets audiences get friendly with the duo.

Here’s that poster:

Marvel has taken a hit over the last two weeks for their treatment of the Edgar Wright situation, and it’s hard not to question the studio’s judgement when they would dump a director that’s beloved and basically through poop in their own face for unknown reasons (considering that Wright had been working on it for them for over a decade). It’s hard to suggest this will turn fans against the studio, but if you add to that some comic book movie fatigue, James Gunn’s relative inexperience directing hundred million dollar movies, and the material’s inherent weirdness, Guardians could be a recipe for the studio’s first big misfire.

Currently the most successful comic book movie of the year came out in April, while The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is going to just barely cross the $200 Million mark and X-Men: Days of Future Past will top that, but has no other big milestones in front of it. But those movies don’t have the Marvel magic, which we may see work yet another miracle when Guardians of the Galaxyis released August 1.

Damon worked in the film business as a Film Buyer for a theater chain for many years, which gives him an interesting perspective on the numbers. He's written for Collider, Chud, Screencrush, The DVD Journal and Binaryflix online, and was published by The New York Times and Willamette Week, along with his college, high school and middle school papers.